~s:kthe Rabbi' By the same author Jewish Prayer A Guide to Rosh Ha-Shanah A Guide to Yom Kippur ut Have Reason to Believe Jewish Values Studies in Talmudic Logic and Methodology The Palm Tree qf Deborah (Translated from the Hebrew of Moses Cordovero, with Introduction and Notes) Tract on Ecstasy (Translated from the Hebrew of Dobh Baer of Lubavitch, with Introduction and Notes) Seeker qf Uniry Faith Principles qf the Jewish Faith: An Ana!Jtical Study A Jewish Theology Helping with Inquiries: An Autobiography The Talmudic Argument Hasidic Prayer God, Torah, Israel Religion and the Individual A Tree qf Life The Jewish Religion: A Companion Beyond Reasonable Doubt ~sk the Rabbi' LOUIS JACOBS VALLENTINE MITCHELL LONDON • PORTLAND, OR First published in 19 9 9 in Great Britain by VALLENTINE l'vJITCHELL Newbury House, 900 Eastern Avenue London IG2 7HH and in the United States qf America by VALLENTINE l'vJITCHELL c/o ISBS, 5804 N.E. Hassalo Street Portland, Oregon 97213-3644 Hlebsite http:/ /www.vmbooks.com Copyright© 1999 LouisJacobs British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Jacobs, Louis 'Ask the Rabbi' l.Judaism- Miscellanea 2. Sociology, Jewish- Miscellanea I. Title 296.3 ISBN 0-85303-352-8 (cloth) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jacobs, Louis. Ask the rabbi I LouisJacobs. p. cm. ISBN 0-85303-352-8. 1. Judaism-Miscellanea. I. Title. BM5l.J33 1999 296--dc21 98-41119 CIP All rights reserved. No part qf this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval ~stem, or transmitted, in a'!JI form or by a'!JI means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission qf the publisher qf this book. Typeset by Vitaset, Paddock Wood, Kent Printed in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale For my grandson Daniel and my new granddaughter, his wjft, Samantha Contents Introduction X1 1 Bible 1 2 Theology 36 3 Ethics 59 4 Kashrut 77 5 Sabbath 98 6 Festivals 112 7 Ceremonies 142 8 Marriage and Divorce 173 9 Death and Burial 198 10 Miscellaneous 224 Publishers' Note These letters were written over the course of 20 years, between 1964 and 1985. Many refer to personalities and holders of specific public office. These references, of course, reflect the time in which they were written, as they have obviously changed over the years. The Publishers have preserved the letters without modification, as they first appeared. Introduction The 'Ask the Rabbi' column was a weekly feature in the Jewish Chronicle for some twenty-five years during which time thousands of replies were given to questions sent in by readers. The Editor of the JC, for a number of reasons, thought it best if the identity of the Rabbi was not disclosed. Now that the column has been discontinued, it was agreed that the cloak of anonymity was no longer necessary and that this book be published under my name containing typical replies by 'The Rabbi'. The replies were published haphazardly as the questions came in so that a reply to a question on, say, dietary law, was printed side by side with a reply or replies to questions on totally different subjects. Some of the questions required only a brief reply, others a fuller statement. In this book the questions and the replies to them are arranged under various headings - Ethics, Theology, Marriage and Divorce and so forth but, faithful to the spontaneous nature of the originals, no attempt has been made to arrange the replies under the headings in any kind of order. With the exception of a few questions on the festivals (made up at the request of the Editor and none of which are included in this volume) all the questions were actually sent in by readers eager to know what the Jewish view is on this or that topic. The difference between this book and my books, f11hat Does]udaism Sl!)' About ... ?1 and the much more comprehensive work, The Jewish Religion: a Companion, 2 lies precisely in my attempt here to reply to particular readers sufficiently concerned to write to the JC for information. Although there is bound to be an occasional overlapping between this and the other two books, I have tried to keep this to a minimum by selecting replies to questions not treated in the other works. A few remarks are in order now that my cover has been blown. It was not my main task, as conceived by the JC, to state my own view, though I did so frequently. Rather I was called upon to state the Orthodox view while pointing to Reform, Liberal and Conservative views where these differed from Orthodoxy. The replies are given in this book as I originally stated them and I have not felt it necessary to adapt them to changed circumstances, for example, by calling attention to the development of the Masorti movement in Anglo-:Jewry or to the controversies in which I have, for my sins, been involved. Even when the new circumstances had already come about when I gave the original replies, I was not able to record them in my previous incarnation as the anonymous 'Rabbi' without giving the game away. Since, however, I had xii • 14sk the Rabbi' tried to be fair and accurate in my replies, I hope that my theological opponents, whether of the right or the left, will not be deterred from reading the book, supplying their own reservations to my conclusions. The Editor often received irate letters, which he published, from readers who thought that my replies were too Jewish or not Jewish enough, too Orthodox or too Reform, too rationalistic or too mystical. In this connection I take the liberty of quoting my reply to my neighbouring columnist, in the JC, Ben Azai: My colleague 'Ben Azai' has gently chided me for the habit I have of qualifying almost every opinion given by an inevitable 'but'. He may be right but (there we go again), it must be appreciated that this column is intended to convey as many of the facts as possible, including opinions which differ from those of 'The Rabbi'. In the case he mentioned, for example, it is my opinion that it is all right to answer the telephone on Shabbat, but surely I have a duty to Orthodox readers to inform them that very many Orthodox Rabbis do not permit it. Similarly, where the Reform or Liberal view is different from my own, I am duty-bound to record this fact. Furthermore, many of the questions submitted do not lend themselves to a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. Simple, uncomplicated solutions to involved questions are generally bogus solutions. Rabbinic training accustoms one to the gentle art of qualifications and I make no apology for practising it. I sincerely hope that 'Ben Azai' and other readers will believe me when I say that I am not engaged in hedging my bets or, to vary the metaphor, in trying to have my cake and eat it. The transliteration of the Hebrew follows the house style of the JC: 'eh' for the letter ~et and Cabala not Kabbalah, as I would normally have spelled it. This book is not a ShulchanAruch (here, too, I follow the system of transliteration followed in the original replies). For one thing it covers many non-Halachic topics and even when considering questions of Halachah the replies are in general terms. Where a particular decision was required I always directed the reader to his or her own Rabbi. Debates and discussions, often vehement, have long been the life-blood ofJudaism. If this book generates a few more of these, all to the good. LouisJacobs London, 1998 NOTES I. Jerusalem: Keter, 1973. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. 1 Bible A Christian clergytnan recently spoke slightingly of the principle of an 'eye for an eye' as typical of Old Testa.Dlent justice. What is your opinion? We Jews are not limited to the literal meaning of the Biblical texts but to the way the texts are interpreted in the Jewish tradition. It is well known that an 'eye for an eye' was understood long ago by the rabbis to mean that payment for the loss of an eye must be made. Like many other Biblical injunctions it gives expression to the demand for justice. Would the clergyman concerned wish to see the victims of violence receive no compensation and would he wish to abolish the law courts? Dr Hertz, Pentateuch and Haftorahs (p. 527), remarks in this connection: 'On the one hand, Judaism, the so-called religion of "strict justice", rejected the literal application of the law of retaliation, and knew neither torture in legal procedure nor mutilation as a legal punishment. In the Christian lands, on the other hand, mutilation and torture were well-nigh indispensable accom­ paniments of justice from the middle of the thirteenth century down to the end of the eighteenth, and in some countries to the middle of the nineteenth century and beyond.' An Anglican priest recently referred to South Africa as 'that haven of Old Testunent ethics'. Do you agree with this libel on the Old Testunent? Jews, let it first be said, do not call the Tenach the 'Old Testament'. It is only when the 'Old' Testament is contrasted unfavourably with the 'New' that its ethics are said to be inferior. Jews have the Torah, which means the Bible as interpreted by Jews, not by the adherents of rival religions to Judaism. In the Jewish interpretation all the harsh passages, such as those dealing with the extermination of the Canaanites, are made a dead letter while the injunctions to pursue justice and to love the neighbour are read as permanently binding obligations of the divine law.